Indian Ornament no. 5. Specimens of painted lacquer work at the collection at the India-House 

Owen Jones created this print, "Indian Ornament no. 5," as part of his study of painted lacquer work at the India-House. The artwork immediately strikes us with its intricate detail and symmetry. Dominated by a rich, earthy green, the central pattern is framed by borders of deep reds, blues and greens, creating a harmonious, almost musical composition. Jones here provides us not with a direct copy, but with a study of the underlying design principles. His formalism echoes a broader 19th-century interest in understanding global artistic traditions through the lens of design theory. Note how Jones uses a limited palette to achieve a sense of unity and visual balance. The recurring floral motifs and the geometric framework that contains them speak to a structural approach, where the ornament is understood as a system of signs governed by rules of repetition, variation, and symmetry. Jones, in his deep dive into Indian ornament, invites us to see design as more than just decoration; it is a structured language.